Shortchannel's Mario Bros
by Shortchannel4
Summary: Re-imagining of the Mario Franchise, starting from Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. and beyond.
1. Wrecking Crew

**A/N: First chapter, special thanks to Lfan4ever for the wonderful beta-reading. I don't know if some of you might take this story seriously and start attacking because it's not canon and whatnot.**

**Anywho a long time ago I saw a movie called Mario Bros. It was a pleasant childhood memory for me and even though later I realized that the movie sucked I still loved it. You know what would have made the movie better? If they sticked a bit more to what the Mario World was and not twist the plot so much that it barely resembles. So I began imagining how it wouldn't have sucked as a movie and that led to this story. A more realistic and mature tale (and not canon) story that respects the lore. At least more than the movie did lol. So let's see how you people respond to this.**

**TL;DR Basically a realistic Mario story that stems from my frustration at the movie. Each chap or arc will be named after a game which it's based on. Starting with:**

**Mario Series ® Nintendo**

* * *

Running as fast as he could through the rooftops, he couldn't quite shake off his foe. Ever since he was stranded on this blasted world, his animalistic side was taking over his mind and twisting him into the beast he truly looked. He stopped abruptly in front of a ledge; the distance to jump was too great.

"You're at a dead end, Kong Prince."

He turned around to face his pursuer who came gliding in on his broomstick,a MagiKoopa, a Koopa Troopa that specializes in magic and leave behind their shells when in combat to move freely. Loose fitting red robes were this MagiKoopa's only apparel. The Magikoopa floated on his broom as his reptilian eyes focused on the Kong Prince.

"You can't even speak anymore can you? You can't live in this world; your species turns into mindless animals here, just like the apes that are native here." He said to the Gorilla, who only grunted in hastily in response. "But you can still recognize me can you? Come with me prince, before you lose your mind." Even in his state, the Kong Prince knew letting himself be captured by Koopas was not good.

"N-no" He stepped back.

"Don't be stupid..." The Magikoopa snapped through his beak-like mouth

The Kong stepped back and let himself fall in his moments of sentient thought. The koopa ran to the edge of the building and looked down at the long drop to the alleyway before...and saw nothing.

Sighing, the Magikoopa got on his broom and flew out of the area as fast as he could.

* * *

"There are still reports of creatures in the sewers of Brooklyn; one man yesterday claimed he saw a giant turtle entering a manhole while another man reported seeing a "guy with scary teeth" running around in the storm drains."

"In other news, a union protest has broken out in the construction of the new office building of the Diamond Software corporation, headed by the Construction Foreman, Johnny Spike." The TV then showed a bearded man, in full construction uniform, backed by several sign holding workers."This is about justice! We aren't being treated fairly and until they sit down with us to talk, we'll continue!" the foreman proclaimed.

The News reporter then began talking again. "The CEO of Mario Bros. Plumbing, Mr. Mario Martelli himself, whose company has a plumbing contract for the building, was quoted as saying "I'm usually all for workers' rights, but this is nothing but organized crime and Foreman Spike is nothing but a two-bit criminal".

"It would seem that this situation is getting quite tense, back to you Rick."

So at that point, Mario stopped listening to the news and began paying attention to what he was eating.

"Bro, you seriously have to start watching what you eat, you've gotten a bit pudgier these years." Indeed Mario Martelli has gained a bit of weight; when he served in the Marine Corps, he was in tip top shape. He served as a "Maintenance Technician" doing exactly what he does now...plumbing. It's not to say that he's gotten fat, he still has well-developed arms, but his belly was starting to show and with his mustache even he knew that he looked like a stereotypical plumber. Yet surprisingly, ladies still found him handsome, even with the bit of extra baggage on him. Mostly...he just looked like a pure man.

The man sitting opposite next to him, his twin brother, was much different. Luigi Martelli was much leaner and took considerable effort to stay that way. He was much more laid-back than his brother, examples being that when Mario joined the military, Luigi took a four-year trip around the country, coming back to Brooklyn at the exact same time his brother finished his tour of duty. They soon opened a small plumbing company that grew into the great success that it was five years later. Luigi, with his shy/boyish charm, was quite the ladies man. Mario could too be, if he had the desire, however, he kept his relationships few and in-between.

They were both currently seated in a restaurant in Chinatown, trying to pass the time until the strike ended and could get back to installing the plumbing in the building, which was already 1/4 complete.

"Well, then you shouldn't have stopped here." Mario replied back.

"My brother's health or Wong's orange chicken?...Hmmmn..."

"Oh thank you, if I get high blood pressure, I know who to blame."

"Speaking of health..." Luigi said, going in a dazed look. "Have you been feeling...different lately?"

"How so?" Mario asked suspiciously.

"I've been feeling a lot more energetic lately. I went out jogging last night and was literally jogging for 6 hours. I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and back...and didn't even break a sweat."

Mario arched his eyebrows in disbelief.

"You lying."

"Nope, I ran in the park track, but that didn't tire me. Ran around the blocks, that didn't tire me. I ran the bridge, still felt like a million bucks."

Truth be told, Mario has felt that his stamina has taken an unnatural turn for the better these past few weeks, but he didn't want to feed into Luigi's enthusiasm just yet. Earlier that day, he was able to jump onto his ceiling tile to fix it.

"Well let's get out of here, and wait for that strike to end." Luigi finally said as they both got up to leave.

* * *

_John F. Kennedy International Airport_

Pauline Velasquez was the most famous supermodel in the world. Her brown hair, long legs and gorgeous looks had the attention of every man on the planet. However at the current age of 29, she had decided this was going to be her last photo shoot. She was retiring; she was going to call it quits before her looks called quits on her. With the tabloid and the paparazzi barely managing to get here as she was close to her chauffeur, she decided to answer their questions anyways.

"Miss Pauline! Miss Pauline! Is it true that you're dating Greek nobl..." Pauline already knew what he was going to ask.

"No, that is a baseless rumor, next question." She answered hiding her annoyance.

"Is it true that you're planning to adopt a foreign baby?"

"What? No! Next question."

"Is it true that you're retiring?"

Now this was the question she was waiting for.

"Yes, after two decades in the modeling industry I've decided to retire. What's next for me you might ask? Acting? Dating? Business? You'll have to stay tuned and find out. No more questions!" She quickly then got in the car. "Let's go Rex." She said to her chauffeur. "That's probably the most exciting thing that's gonna happen to me today."

* * *

As night began creeping in, a manhole opened up in an empty and secluded place not too far from the construction site. Several "men" then began climbing out quickly. While human, these dark skinned people were known as "Goombas" and had evolved some characteristics that made them different. They were a conquered human kingdom that were treated as second class citizens in the Koopa Empire and after generations they came to believe in everything the Koopas told them. These were front-line troops, males, well-built, shaved heads and above all, scary-looking. They had two pairs of canine teeth that truly made them intimidating. They were not armed and were clothed in leather padded armor, with dark brown leather trousers and barefoot. After the eight goombas made their way out, a green shelled Koopa Troopa managed to fit through the hole as well. Standing at six feet tall, this was a pretty standard green shelled troop. Yellow scaled skin with dark eyes with light gray pupils, no armor but boots and a spear strapped on his back.

"Alright, Klevorn wants us to keep looking for the Kong Prince. I don't think we'll be able to find him though and by no means must you engage him. Am I understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" The Goombas said in unison.

"Alright, keep out of site and stick to the alleys, let's go!"

Not so far away, Klevorn, the Magikooopa in question was not content with letting some grunts look for the Kong Prince. Having him in custody would bring the empire a nice advantage. So he spread out his arms as fire erupted from them. The fires quickly formed into three floating fireballs, all hovering around Klevorn and awaiting orders. "Go, find the Kong Prince, and kill anything that gets in your way." The fireballs quickly went off into different directions. The Magikoopa then teleported away.

Meanwhile, nearby Mario had snuck into the construction site (well technically he was allowed in) but there was no one there and the protesters were gone for the time being as well. He was sitting high up on a metal bar, past the first three floors which were already finished. For some reason he was compelled to wear his plumber uniform which consisted of brown boots, overalls, red shirt, white working gloves and his signature cap. It was a retro flat cap, completely red minus the white circle with a red M on it, located in front of the hat. Luigi had a similar uniform, but green.

Mario's thoughts drifted as he was contemplating life. It's not to say he was unhappy, but he certainly felt he lacked something in his life...he wasn't even sure if it was love, (he hoped it wasn't love). "I need a vacation..."

Then he spotted a van parking in front...suspiciously. Several masked men got out, all wearing masks he couldn't exactly make out at the moment. One last mask-less man got out dressed in full construction gear.

"Spike!" Mario said. "I knew it." Mario quickly scrambled to get down to the first level to see what was up. The masked men quickly secured the front of the building, so that the fences would allow them to not be seen. Mario hid behind a giant cylinder concrete. Then he got a better look at their masks, which were purple and had black sockets so the men could see through them. Mario privately thought that those masks looked very much like eggplants. Mario moved quickly behind a smaller cylinder, one he had to crouch to not be seen.

"All right, take that dynamite in..." He stopped talking as he heard something. The masked men quickly began shooting at the cylinder with their handguns. Mario held his composure and tried not to panic; thankfully, they stopped shooting.

"I'm gonna kill that plumber myself, I KNOW THAT'S YOU MARIO." Mario heard him scream. "Get inside and finish the job, I'll handle this guy." Mario could here everyone walking, with the majority seemingly heading towards the building.

"What is he doing?" Mario said, not daring to peek for fear of getting shot. So with that, Mario got ready to dash to another cover, when he suddenly heard a rumbling sound and lights overhead. He quickly got out of the way as the cylinder was crushed, he rolled and stood up quickly as he observed a vehicle, a backhoe/bulldozer hybrid type, with long arms at both ends and a large retractable metal plate at front which can function in many ways. This was high-tech construction material, Diamond Software's payroll seemed infinite as only they could afford to use this model...named the "Golden Mantis".

"You're in a lot of trouble Spike!" Mario said as the foreman turned the Mantis around.

"This building is going to blow up, you're gonna be dead and it's all gonna look like an accident." He said.

"You think people are that stupid?" Mario said.

"Yes." And like that Foreman Spike began charging forward with the Mantis.

Meanwhile, the eggplant gang had made its way inside and was beginning to plant the bomb inside the building.

"Alright, let's do this fast boys; we don't want to get caught up in the explosion." While a couple of them stood watch, two crouched down and began to arm the explosive. The bomb specialists were almost done, when one of the guards was startled.

"What the-?" Before he could respond his clothes were suddenly on fire, he began screaming as the others saw the flying fireball there. The "fire sprite" quickly went through another gangster and set him on fire as well.

* * *

Mario dodged the Mantis' claw quickly, before it turned around and tried to hit him with the other claw. The Mantis was fast despite its size and Mario's new unnatural stamina was the only thing that was saving him, something which Foreman Spike found extremely irritating. "Die already!" He said.

Mario saw this as a chance; he quickly sprinted and jumped...he didn't know whether he could make it, but something inside was telling him to jump. He squatted and then released, flying off the ground. He couldn't believe it! He was jumping like he had never jumped before and was able to land on top of the mantis.

"What!" Spike exclaimed in disbelief. Mario then jumped down facing the cockpit, hanging on to the ledge, landing both his feet on Spike's face. The foreman fell off the vehicle and square into the dirt. He tried getting up, but Mario once again had faith in his new jumping ability. He jumped once again; if anyone was there they would have seen the display of acrobatics that plumber Mario Martelli did at that moment. He performed one flip, beautifully, before landing on Spike's head and knocking him to the ground. Spike was knocked out for the moment and Mario quickly speed dialed the police as he ran inside the unfinished building, nearly dropping his phone at the site of gang members.

_A few minutes later_

The cops had Spike in cuffs and were towing out the gang members in stretchers; they were alive, but badly burned. Mario was talking to the cops about what happened.

"So you stopped them all by yourself?" One of them asked him.

"Well no...Just Spike, I don't know how they were all burned." He said as the police officer wrote it all down.

"Must have been when they were messing with the explosive, good thing it didn't go off. The bomb squad already took it away." He said.

"Mario!" Luigi's familiar voice came as he was accompanied by a Diamond Executive. Luigi had been finishing up a plumbing job so he was in full plumbing gear as well. "Are you alright bro?" He said as he reached them.

"Yeah."

"Mr. Martelli, looks like you were right." The suited businessman said. "They were working for the mob...all of this is just racketeering. They were trying to extort us and warned us that bad things would happen if we didn't cooperate. Looks like they weren't kidding."

Mario chuckled "Heh, what the economy does to people."

* * *

Not too far away Pauline was being chauffeured to her photo shoot, her last photo shoot. She was wondering what she was going to do now after this...what was she going to do with the rest of the life. "Oh God, I'm in a mid-life crisis and I'm not even middle aged yet." She sighed dramatically. Rex decided not to comment, as this would likely incur her wrath. He turned on the news radio.

"...and on spectacle you only see on T.V. a plumber has thwarted a bomb plot on the unfinished new Diamond Software offices on the 4th Avenue..."

"4th avenue?" Rex said. "That's...two blocks down" Suddenly the car came to an abrupt stop as something crushed the hood of his car all while hearing a mind mumbling roar. As he came to, he noticed a large...hairy...something...with a red tie...knuckle walking around the car. Pauline began screaming as the door was ripped opened with ease, revealing the face of a large brown- furred Gorilla staring back at her. He reached in and pulled her out, all while she was screaming and trying to resist. He put the woman over his shoulder and jumped away.


	2. Donkey Kong

**A/N: Sorry for the wait folks, here's the next chap. Beta-read by LFan4Ever.**

* * *

_A few days ago:_

He opened his eyes, feeling groggy and fazed. Trying to get a sense of his surroundings, he found himself on a ship's deck. His hands were tied to the mast of the ship, hearing the rocking of the ship. As he came too finally, he realized two things:

One, he was on a Koopa ship, evident from the Koopas' presence.

Second, this was actually an Airship, one that sails through the skies by unknown means. The fact that there were clouds around made this clear, no one could confuse this with fog.

"Ah, you're awake." said the arrogant voice of a Koopa. Focusing, he saw it was a Magikoopa, robed in blue and wearing a wizard hat.

"The famous Kamek…"

"And you're the famous Donkey Kong, prince of the tribes and heir apparent." The wizard said, his eyes hidden behind his goggles. At that point Donkey Kong remembered everything that happened. He had been on his way to Sarasaland as an ambassador when his ship was caught by a typhoon. The last thing he remembered was the ship being overturned by a wave. "We were in luck to find you adrift in sea, and now everyone thinks you're dead…" Kamek said.

"And I'm sure you have plans for me then?" He asked trying to seem as if the situation didn't faze him.

Kamek gave a hearty laugh. "Ho ho ho...Oh, my friend we have a plan for everyone!"

"Where are we going?" Donkey Kong said, a little unnerved at the Magikoopa and his notorious reputation.

"Earth." At this, the ape's eyes shot open.

"Wha...what?" Donkey Kong knew of Earth—and that its atmosphere had negative effects on his kind. The only safe ways to Earth were natural portals that opened every now and then, or by using the seven shards of the star gods.

"We have an operation going on there right now, and you are to be held there, where your diminished intelligence will make it easier for us to hold you until we receive word from the Emperor to move on with our plan. Unfortunately, I will not be joining you in Earth for I have other business to attend too". Summoning his broom to him, he smiled devilishly at the Kong Prince. "I heard the feeling of losing yourself…is unimaginable."

* * *

Present day:

Mindless rage, very little intelligent thought in terms of sentience diminishing rapidly this, is all Donkey Kong felt as he carried the woman through the streets. He tuned out the screams of the pedestrians and let nothing get in his way; luckily he didn't actually end up hurting anyone, but he caused major property and vehicle damage.

But, the woman pounding on his back was slightly annoying.

"Let go of me you stupid ape!" Luckily for Pauline, he didn't understand. People got out of the way as he rampaged through 4th avenue, coming up to the construction site which Donkey Kong saw as a giant climbing post. The police who noticed him first weren't sure how to proceed, and before they could decide what to do, Donkey Kong was already there. At that point everybody was alerted to the gorilla's presence.

Mario, still mentally exhausted with the incident and preparing to leave just stared wide-eyed as the beastly gorilla jumped over them and ran inside the half-finished building.

"What was that!" Luigi said.

"I'm calling animal control." said one police officer as the other contemplated what to do.

"That woman is in danger!" Mario said.

"We need real back up with this!"

"I'm not going in there. That's damn near suicide" Muttered the cops.

"Look we can't just…" Mario, said in anger and, ignoring the cop's words, turned around and ran inside the site.

"Mario! Don't be an idiot!" Luigi screamed. Mario did not stop. "God damn it…" He said as he ran behind his brother.

As Mario stepped inside, he heard the distant sounds of the ape's large footsteps. Obviously, the ape was going up. As he turned to the stairs, a metal steel drum came bouncing down. Mario jumped over it, barely, as it was thrown with great force. Stopping for a second, he quickly resumed his climb, but another barrel came down. This time he was a little bit more prepared and was able to dodge it more easily.

Reaching the second floor, he could see the ape's back as he quickly ran to the end of the corridor and into the stairs to the third floor. Mario quickly sprinted down the hall, when he began seeing several drums rolling down the stairs. Though the ape lost his sentient intelligence, the natural animal intelligence befitting of an ape was still evident.

Dodging the barrels skillfully, Mario made his way up. Upon reaching the third floor, he looked around and found nothing. This floor was not fully finished yet, noticeable by the lack of doors. As he began making his way to the next level, more barrels came his way; Mario easily dodged them. He came to a stop when he found something on the floor, a sledge hammer. For convenience, his uniform had straps on his backs where he could put such tools, and his belt could also hold a few things if needed. As more drums began rolling his way, a feeling swept over him, an adrenaline rush. He charged forward and bashed the barrel down on the ground with the sledge, leaving it on the floor with a large dent. He hit the next one horizontally, sending it to the wall and smashed the next one upward, sending up and leaving it stuck to the ceiling as it cracked around it. Mario then continued his way upwards.

Meanwhile, a crowd was forming outside as police set up a barricade. The news crews, who were about to disperse after the Spike incident, now had more to report about. It was quite a night for them.

A hooded man, conspicuously watching from the crowd, looked carefully at the scene unfolding before him.

Mario reached the next floor, this one was even more unfinished, as neither the walls nor the upper ceiling were completed. He could begin to see outside now. As he began running again, he was suddenly stopped as fire began spreading through the wall next to him. Before he could really panic, the fire moved away from the wall until it formed a floating fireball. Mario stepped back, nearly tripping backwards at the bizarre site before him.

The flame began moving around, circling Mario. Mario, still being freaked out by this, tried his best to dodge it. He knew if Luigi were to see this though, he would scream like a girl. He quickly began circling the fire as it attempted to touch him. Mario flipped back, skillfully landing his hand the floor and proceeded to land backwards with his feet to put some distance between them. However the fireball had a response to this.

A small stream of fire erupted from it, with Mario barely dodging it. However, a piece of his sleeve had caught on fire. Mario quickly put it out, not taking his eyes off his opponent. The fire charged, and without thought. he swung the hammer down. The fire plummeted to the ground, extinguishing as it did so.

Mario bought the hammer up, breathing heavily, more of fear and excitement than actual fatigue. It took a few moments, but he began to run again. But when he heard sizzling sounds behind him, he turned around.

The fire had returned, and it was beginning to change color. He felt the air around him become hotter when suddenly a spraying sound was heard. A white foamy liquid enveloped it and it was finally extinguished. Behind it stood Luigi with a fire extinguisher.

"You didn't think I'd let you go in alone did you?"

* * *

Donkey Kong had reached the state of the building where there were no long any floors, just the foundations and pillars rising up, with the six large deactivated cranes carrying large metal platforms in mid air. Donkey Kong quickly surveyed the area and found a perfect place for an ambush. He jumped up into one of the floating platforms and placed the now-unconscious Pauline there, while jumping down and gathering any scattered barrels he could find.

* * *

"What are you thinking?" asked Luigi as they continued heading to the higher level.

Mario stopped. "I'm thinking we have to save her."

"Why?"

Mario stood there, thinking for a moment. Why was he so pent up on suddenly being a hero? "You wouldn't understand Luigi."

At that, Luigi smiled. "Don't you get it? I do understand."

"Huh?"

"We're brothers after all. Haven't we always had the same impulses since we were kids?" Luigi jokingly retorted.

"Heh, so that means you're with me?" Mario asked with a smile.

"Hell yeah."

And with one final bro fist, they continued upward.

"By the way did you notice who the girl he took was?" Luigi asked, knowing the answer.

"Who?"

The Mario Bros. reached the area where the ape couldn't go any further up, considering there wasn't really anywhere up to go…unless he can climb well…which he could considering he's an ape.

As they entered the last floor, with that same thought, causing Luigi to be cautious as he pushed Mario out of the way as a barrel came down from above. They saw the ape on one of the floating platforms, having various barrels besides him, which were soon coming down on them. Mario and Luigi both separated, going in different directions.

The first barrel was directed at what the ape saw as the green intruder. He quickly dodged it, barely however. Meanwhile Mario was going around the ape, and jumped to a higher ledge almost at the same level as the Gorilla. That's when Mario noticed, the ape's red tie, reading read "DK". The once- sentient creature saw him and threw a barrel at him. Mario quickly jumped to another ledge.

Meanwhile, Luigi began to get to the ape's level too. Both brothers went around the ape on the various ledges. While DK was focused on Luigi, Mario saw this as a chance to strike. He jumped from his ledge with the intention of taking down the ape. But halfway there the ape turned around and clapped.

The clap was loud…so loud that the sheer force of the sound sent him back. Mario got up and just barely avoided a barrel. Luigi was dissuaded to try and do the same thing, but they had to do something.

They both found themselves in the same platform, in front of Donkey Kong.

"Should we try together?"

"We're the Mario Brothers, we're unstoppable after all" And like that they both jumped, fists up front and ready to take him down.


	3. Mario Brothers

**A/N: Sorry for the delay readers, life got in the way, and the beta reader that usually does this hasn't replied this, so you're gonna have to excuse any lower quality riding from me in this chapter.**

**This concludes Donkey Kong and Begins the Mario Bros. Arc.**

**Edit: Now beta read by LFan4over**

**

* * *

**

Donkey Kong clapped, using the "sound wave attack" to try and stop the incoming humans. But as Mario and Luigi jumped forward, an energy field enveloped them and the sound waves simply went around them. Donkey Kong quickly stepped back and avoided their furious punches as they landed in front of him. The platform was rather large and Mario could see the unconscious woman a few feet away.

The ape put his hands together again and attempted to pound them. Even though they barely managed to avoid the incoming attack, they almost fell over due to the sheer strength of the attack's impact. He pounded his chest, making aggressive and stereotypical gorilla noises. He began trying to hit the brothers as they circled around him but found them to be too fast. Mario quickly ran to the girl, picking her up and avoiding a sudden fist from the ape. In a blind rage the ape began hitting everything around, causing the platform to shake violently.

Donkey Kong looked at the red-clad plumber and attempted to smash him. Mario was carrying the knocked-out girl and instinctively thrust the head of his hammer out to block the attack. What he heard next was the ape's screeching as it howled in pain and grabbed his wrist in comfort. Then, Mario saw a nostalgic tactic used by Luigi who had crouched behind the ape. They had done the exact same thing to bullies back in middle school. Mario quickly jumped.

Mario planted his feet in the ape's face, causing the ape to stumble backwards and finally trip over Luigi and fall off the platform. He heard a thump as the ape fell to the floor below. Both brothers then peeked over, looking at the beast laying unconscious on the floor. They jumped down, but were surprised to suddenly find a hooded man standing above the ape.

"This man is of noble lineage; it pains me to see him like this." He said in a very experienced tone. Mario wasn't sure if by "man" he meant the ape.

"How did they let you in?" Luigi asked suspiciously. The stranger then looked at them, curiously.

"Your powers are unique…not like a mage's…very interesting" He said. "I will take this prince back and hopefully help restore his mind." He put his hands in the air as they began to glow.

"We…shall meet again, Mario Brothers." And in a flash of light, both he and the Gorilla were gone, leaving behind a very confused Mario and Luigi.

"Yeah, there's no way we're getting out of this sane." Luigi said.

"The ape escaped, right Luigi?" Mario scowled, gritting his teeth.

"…Right."

* * *

Outside, Pauline had woken up and was sitting in the ambulance. Mario had just finished talking to the police about "what happened".

"Good job there Marine, you still do your country proud." said an older looking police officer, who gave them a salute before turning and leaving.

"Let's go Luigi. I've had enough excitement for one day."

"Wait!" He heard a female voice behind him. Pauline approached them, still a little shaky from the whole incident, but smiling nonetheless.

"Which one of you saved me?" She asked.

"Well we both kind of…" Mario started saying.

"He did." Luigi interrupted and pointed at his brother.

"Well now, I guess I owe you thanks, Mr…" She paused, lifting an eyebrow.

"Please, call me Mario." He said rather shyly as he put his hand behind his head smiling.

"I'll wait in the van." Luigi quickly said and left them alone to talk. He had been planning that while they fought the ape, and figured how grateful she would be to whoever saved her. And Mario needed a woman like Pauline in his life. Unlike himself who was happy being single, Mario needed some romance.

A couple of minutes later, Mario entered the driver's side, looking slightly confused but with a boyish look in his eyes.

"So?"

"She insisted…I go to the dinner with her." He confessed rather shyly.

"Score." Luigi murmured below his breath, a small grin in place.

* * *

_Brooklyn Underside_

"Get that brew going; we need that done before he wakes up." Many hooded people were gathered in a chamber somewhere in the sewers. One couldn't exactly see what they were due to their hoods, but some of their body proportions indicated something non-human. At first glance they would seem like a cult, especially with one of them spinning a spoon in a cauldron. One of the hooded figures added one last ingredient, a mushroom, and pulled out a syringe.

"It's done" She inserted the syringe in the cauldron and filled it with the red liquid. Then, she passed it to a hooded man, the same one that had brought in the ape. He positioned himself and carefully inserted the injection in the ape's neck. As he liquid entered his gorilla jerked upwards and looked around him with surprised but wary eyes.

"Where am I? Koopas! They got me!"

"No no, relax Donkey Kong. We are not here to hurt you." said their leader. Donkey Kong glanced around nervously, looking at the figures.

"Last I remember, I was taken by Koopas. They took me to Earth, and…I don't remember much else. Wait, are we still on Earth?"

"Yes, Your Grace, and we are trying to formulate a plan to escape while shutting down their operation here. Can we count in your strength to help?"

Donkey Kong put his head on his forehead, to alleviate the slight headache he had. "Yeah, I suppose, But who are you people anyways?"

"We…are the Cabal. A group dedicated to maintaining peace and balance in our world."

"Yeah, well you haven't been doing a good job at it." He muttered as he got up, his imposing figure towering over all the hooded people. "What are the Koopas trying to do here anyways?"

"I'm sure they know invading this place is not feasible; the local humans' technological prowess is too much. We can assume they are here on a mission to acquire something, maybe weapons or technology. Which would give them an advantage back in our world." Donkey Kong processed those words.

"And then they would give that technology to the Krem…Alright, I'm in." He cracked his knuckles and walked a bit, thinking and then turned around. "What's the plan?"

The hooded man smiled. "I think destiny will handle that."

* * *

_A few days later_

"And finally, a few days after that turbulent night at the future offices of Diamond Software, the construction site is open again." Mario turned changed the radio station as he drove his companies' van. Both he and Luigi hadn't chosen to talk much, even to reporters. That night had shaken them, but not in a negative way. That night, they felt everything was just…right.

Tomorrow the rest of their employees and themselves would be back at the construction site and life…would return to normal.

Later that day, Mario and Luigi were hired to fix an old lady's plumbing. They finished by midnight and left.

"You boys be good you hear?" She said as they left.

"Reminds me of grandma." Luigi shook his head.

Meanwhile, nearby, a Diamond Corp. van was transporting goods. The driver was finding it odd how a lot of the streets had been blocked off, and was forced to make detours into the less desirable parts of Brooklyn.

"Huh, another blocked road" The driver sighed as made yet another turn into darker streets. This neighborhood was decrepit, filled with decaying house and broken roads.

As he drove further down the street, he surprisingly heard a rumbling sound as everything began to shake. The ground began to split upon and the last thing he remembered was driving into a large sink hole that formed in the middle of the street.

Mario and Luigi had found it strange that some streets were blocked off…

"What the hell is going on? You'd think this was some clever ploy to trap people." Mario mumbled, annoyed, as he continued driving. Soon he drove into a empty neighborhood with a large pothole in the center of its street.

"Man they're just laxing off on street repairs aren't they?" Mario frowned as he drove closer to the sink hole, when he suddenly noticed a truck had crashed into it. "What the?" They quickly stopped their van and ran to the edge of the sinkhole. What they saw was unexplainable at first, but their minds quickly picked up what they were seeing. Several dark-skinned men were unloading boxes off the truck, being directed by a large turtle looking…creature.

"We have to get out of here, it won't be long before the human government notices." He said. The green-shelled Koopa Troopa motioned for more Goombas to come forward.

Mario and Luigi dropped to the floor in a panic, while still peeking inside the sink hole. The tunnels below were now open; the whole crack on the street now resembled a cave opening that led into the tunnels.

"…" Mario looked down on the creatures, but in doing so, moved his hand and accidently caused some small gravel to fall into the sink hole. The Koopa immediately looked up, saw the gravel, then looked up and saw the brothers.

"Uh oh" Luigi muttered.

"Goombas! SILENCE THEM!" The Koopa ordered, and then quickly the dark skinned men jumped up to the street and began charging towards Mario and Luigi as they stepped back. Mario was unsure of what to do as the horde approached them, but suddenly Luigi jumped up. He landed on the head of a goomba, causing the man to stumble backwards and fall knocked out. As the Goombas began reaching Mario, he used all his training to knock them out while Luigi used his acrobatics and flashy moves to disable them.

"If you want something done…" The Koopa grumbled as he emerged from the sinkhole. He drew his sword and charged at them. He also saw several Goombas beginning to get up again. Mario blocked his sword with his sledgehammer. As the Goombas began charging again, he quickly kicked the Koopa in the stomach. Mario grabbed his shell, doing one quick spin and throwing it great force at the horde, knocking them out again.

Both of them panted, still in shock over this. "First an ape, a floating fire, some wizard, and now this…" Luigi wiped his brow.

"There's more of them in there, we have to see what they're up to." Mario said as he jumped into the sinkhole and began walking into the tunnels.

"Wait, what?"

* * *

Meanwhile deep in the sewers, in an abandoned subway line, a Koopa encampment was set. Various Koopas and Goombas were going about, sharpening their weapons, training or talking. A tent in the middle housed the operation leader, Klevorn the Magikoopa, was studying a book, a floating book whose pages turned automatically. A Koopa Troopa with a red shell entered.

"Sir!"

"Yes Lieutenant?

"Someone just came through the portal." He said.

"Who?"

"Magister Kamek." Klevorn's eyes opened widely for a moment, but then resumed their natural cool stare. He put his book down.

"Bring him in." The Lieutenant stepped out, and in stepped his previous mentor, Kamek. Klevorn himself was an elite in Magikoopa standards, his red robes signified his rank as master, but Kamek was more powerful than him, blue robes signifying the ultimate rank of Magister. Magisters held high influence over the empire and together ran the Magikoopa order.

"Hello Magister Kamek." Klevorn said with a detached tone.

The blue robed Koopa Wizard had stepped in. "Klevorn, I see the operation is going well.""

"Not quite, I do wonder why we're stealing these knick knacks for Iggy to toy around with back home, but more to the point, Donkey Kong escaped…sir." He reluctantly admitted.

"You let the ape escape?" He said in mild irritation.

"I didn't "let" him do anything, he ripped open his containment and blasted through my guards. I chased him around the city only to lose him. He was later spotted causing trouble for the humans and disappeared "

"Well losing him is a minor setback anyway. Let him stay here and rampage all he wants." Kamek said as he began to stroll around the room. "The Emperor's plans didn't really include him. And about your comment on technology and our princes...keep in mind that his kind of genius doesn't come around very often. Anything that we can give to him from this more technological world is a giant leap for our people" He said as he paced directly in front of his old pupil. "And remember what I thought you acolyte…" He said bending his head so that he was at eye level at him. "Science and the forces that we call Magic go hand in hand." He backed off for a bit, turning around and preparing to leave.

"We remove the shards that sustain the link in two hours and that will give you about six hours from now to withdraw from here." He said.

"Got it." He said as he got out and followed Kamek outside. The more matured wizard was in front of a broken pipe that stuck out the wall.

"Don't disappoint us now; the Emperor is counting on you." Kamek said as he disappeared into many little light particles that went into the pipe.

"Alright everyone" Klevorn said directing his attention towards the troops. "We have six hours to get the hell out of here. We're going home people." Everyone cheered in grunts and yells at the prospect of leaving behind this dirty place, the underbowels of a human world.

"Now we need to start…"

"Master Klevorn!" said a Koopa as he ran desperately into the encampment.

"What?" He said.

"We have problems!"


End file.
